Type: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Omnific
My Copy: Sent/blog tour
In a world gripped by organized crime, family dysfunction, and dim hopes of redemption, can true love persevere? For Sophie Taylor, a beautiful psychologist who lost everything when she violated an ethical boundary, and Grant Madsen, a handsome naval officer who sacrificed everything to protect a loved one, finding that love may carry an unbearable cost.
Starting their lives over in Chicago, both are fighting influences from their family and running as fast as they can to escape the past. When their paths cross outside the parole officer’s door, the attraction is instantaneous. But a hidden connection may not only shatter their fledgling love, but prove deadly to them both.
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Love outside of the parole office door? Seems unlikely but that is just what happens when Grant sees Sophie there the first day out of prison where he had been for over a year. The worst year of his life is over but now the threat of going back hangs over his head like a blinding beacon of light.
Having just got out of prison herself for sleeping with a client, former psychologist Sophie is floundering trying to find a job as a condition of her parole. Who wants to hire a felon? Meeting Grant was a stroke of luck she can’t deny…neither is the attraction she feels when she’s with him.
Secrets are never good among parolees and both of them are hiding their past. Only the truth can truly set them free. With that truth though comes violence, a mob boss and their lives intertwining in ways neither could ever have expected.
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Be prepared folks, this is one long book. I mean seriously long. I wasn’t expecting it to be nearly as long as it was and so it took a bit of time reading it. Jennifer Lane is a new to me author and as the first book by hers that I have read, this one left me conflicted. The writing is really good and so is the story telling. My problems had to do with the character. Mainly Grant. It’s no secret how I like my men in books. I like them big, somewhat scary and tough…really tough. Grant was none of those and so I had issues bonding with him as a character. He spent a lot of time crying. I don’t like crying unless it involves a body, blood and huge loss. I could understand Grants emotional mess because he was a average-ish Naval man who had been backed into a corner by his mob family and ended up in prison as a result. He was scared, as he should have been, and having the upbringing he did didn’t help. I just couldn’t get past all the crying.
Sophie was likable and I felt for her. She had been in love and I think part of her lover/client , Logan loved her in his own way. She get the crappy end of the deal when he stashed evidence in her office and when the authorities found out she went to prison. Honestly her lawyer must have been a hack job because really…they didn’t have much of a case. But I digress. She was extremely naive and at times that grated on my nerves.
For the majority of the book Sophie has no clue that Logan and Grant are brothers and for his part Grant has no idea that Sophie went to prison because of a brother he hasn’t seen in years. I think the best thing about this book is the fact that people turn out the way they do because of the environment they were raised in. Grant, raised by a loving uncle, was a loving, productive member of society. His brother, raised by their crime family was backstabbing and unforthright, though underneath it all he was loyal and still had a conscience. Sophie was easily manipulatede because of her need to be loved stemming from a unattentive father who seemingly blamed her for her mothers untimely heart attack and death.
Those with a love for well written contemporary romance should really enjoy this one. Character driven with real world scenarios, With Good Behavior will keep you occupied and wanting to learn more about the families of Grant and Sophie. Left open to usher in the next book, Bad Behavior.
I give With Good Behavior by Jennifer Lane 3.50 stars!
Since I am part of the blog tour with Omnific Publishing and A Tale Of Many Reviews I have been given the ok to give away an e-copy of either With Good Behavior OR Bad Behavior. This is open internationally and I will close it out on Dec 13th 2011 and announce the winner on the 14th. Please answer the following question as well as give me a way to find you if you win: Would you survive in prison? Why or why not?
Bad Behavior Blurb:
Grant Madsen’s got issues. He’s still battling his Mafia family and doing everything possible to keep his loved ones safe. With the cruising season coming to an end, he has to find another job soon or he’ll rejoin his father in prison. And he’s trying to convince his rebellious teenage nephew to stay away from their criminal relatives (you can imagine how that’s going). But worst of all, Grant’s parole officer has mandated that he attend therapy.
The only saving grace is that they’re couples sessions with his girlfriend, Sophie Taylor, a fellow parolee who’s struggling with a few issues of her own. Sophie desperately hopes her past with Grant’s brother won’t destroy her future with him. There’s a sleazy professor at work who revels in sexually harassing women in the psychology department. And her father still hates Grant.
Their psychologist has his work cut out for him.
When Grant’s ruthless father hints at a plot to get out of prison, Grant must use everything he’s learned in therapy and beyond to try to stop him. It’s a race against time — and a race to rescue Sophie from the Mafia’s clutches once again. But this time McSailor and Bonnie refuse to play victims. This time the cuffs are coming off.
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Click here to see all the other participating blogs
In addition to the giveaway here at my blog, if you stop and comment at EVERY blog on the tour and then enter to win the grand prize at the tour host (A Tale Of Many Reviews) you will have a chance to win a $20 B&N giftcard OR a print copy of one of the Conduct books!
